Erie to be part of AMC's 'Game of Arms'

About the rulesThe U.S. Armwrestling Association lists 33 arm wrestling rules. Here are 10 of the major rules. - Your shoulders must be square to the table before the match will be started.- All starts will be a "Ready ... Go." The cadence will vary.- To make a winning pin, you must touch your opponent to the touch pad. You must be touched to lose.- You may not, at any time, touch your body to your hand.- You will forfeit the match with your second foul.- If the grip comes apart for whatever reason, both hands will be strapped together.- Your shoulder can't go past the center of the table.- If either competitor is in a position that may hurt his arm, the referee will stop the match and may award a foul.- The referee must see your thumb knuckles unless competitors agree to waive the rule.- If the competitors' elbow comes out of the pocket, and he gains position, a foul will be called and the referee has the option to restart the match.

Competitive arm wrestlers James Wagner, left, 46, and Dave Chaffee, right, 36, both of Erie, are photographed at Scooter's in Erie on Jan 13. Wagner and Chaffee will be featured in an unscripted AMC reality show, "Game of Arms," scheduled to premiere in late Feb 2014. JARID A. BARRINGER/ERIE TIMES-NEWS

American arm wrestlers compete in anonymity in a sport that's usually far removed from mainstream athletics.

That soon could change, and several members of the Erie Power Arm-Wrestling Team could find themselves pulling their share of national attention.

An unscripted AMC reality show scheduled to premiere in late February will chronicle five national arm-wrestling clubs in the cable TV network's series "Game of Arms.''

Erie's Team Relentless will be featured, along with regional arm-wrestling clubs from Sacramento, Calif.; New York City; Baton Rouge, La.; and Kansas City, Mo.

"This is something that hasn't necessarily been shown in a series before,'' said Emily Hunter, an AMC publicist in New York City. "It gives everybody a look into the lives of the arm wrestlers. It has a cool twist to it.''

Erie pullers featured in the series are 2010 world arm-wrestling champion Dave Chaffee, 36, of Erie; John Heynoski Jr., 26, of Millcreek Township; James Wagner, 46, of Erie; and Bart Wood, 39, of Millcreek Township.

"Arm-wrestling is big in Europe, but it hasn't really taken off in the United States,'' said Chaffee, a corrections officer at the Erie County Prison.

Chaffee won the 242-pound weight class right-handed title at the 2010 World Arm Wrestling Championships in Mesquite, Nev., and is currently ranked No. 3 in the world in the heavyweight division.

"Hopefully, after the show, it gets a lot of coverage and people like the show,'' Chaffee said. "Maybe we'll get more people involved and people will think it's actually a legitimate sport, which it obviously is in our minds.''

AMC has ordered 10 one-hour episodes of the series, which is produced by Undertow Films.

AMC officials are expected to announce show dates and times in the next few weeks, Hunter said.

"It will be interesting to see the lives of these men behind the scenes,'' she said. "It will show how they train and prepare physically and mentally for their matches, and the series will also look at their lives outside of the competitions.''

Chaffee's emergence as an elite world arm wrestler played a key role with Erie landing a leading role in the reality series.

In February 2013, Chaffee received a phone call from Ben Murray, an Undertow Films producer.

"He asked me when I was pulling and told me there was a possible chance of being on a reality show with arm wrestlers,'' Chaffee said.

When Chaffee competed at the Arnold Classic Armwrestling Challenge in Columbus, Ohio, in March, Undertow Films producers were there to watch him.

"I ended up winning the classic,'' Chaffee said. "They followed me and a couple of my teammates around and liked what they saw. They gave us a call about two weeks later and said they would like to come to Erie and video our families and us at work.''

Undertow Films crews visited Erie in March and shot film of the athletes at work and home.

"We didn't hear anything for a while, then in September, they told us it was a go, that AMC had picked up the show, and things went pretty quickly from there,'' Chaffee said.

The series will showcase competitions among the five teams.

The Sacramento team visited Erie in November for a match taped by Undertow Films crews.

The Erie arm-wrestling contingent visited New York City the week before Christmas for taping of their match with their series counterpart.

A match between Erie and the Kansas City team is scheduled to be taped in Kansas City this weekend.

The following weekend, taping is scheduled to wrap up in Los Angeles, where all five reality show teams compete against each other in a series-ending tournament.

Heynoski has been pulling for about 18 months. He competes in the 147-pound class, but in his first two matches for the series, he pulled against opponents who weighed 185 pounds and 230 pounds.

"It's a great experience and an opportunity of a lifetime.'' Heynoski said.

Heynoski's dad, the late John Heynoski Sr., won a world arm-wrestling championship in the 187-pound weight class in 1991.

"They (producers) did a little digging, a little background, and they liked my story,'' Heynoski said. "They liked where I came from, how my dad was a world champ, how I'm following in his footsteps, and just my struggles from when he passed away.''

Heynoski believes the reality show will be good for arm-wrestling.

"A lot of times when you bring up arm-wrestling, people think of just barroom guys hanging out. But those guys don't really train.

"We go to the gym every day, stay in shape and just work and work and grind, then go to the tournaments every week and travel out of state,'' he said. "We stay on a good diet and have good nutrition. We're a true athlete. We're not just guys who go up there and throw our arm on a table and try and bust some guy's arm off.''

Heynoski said the series will show the dynamics of the sport and athlete.

"What he goes through from the time he wakes up, his day-to-day struggles, how he trains, what he eats,'' Heynoski said. "Everything about the sport is going to be portrayed in this show.''

Wood said he believes Erie's arm-wrestling heritage helped earn his team selection in the series.

"This is wonderful for our team and for Erie,'' Wood said. "We want to represent Erie with class, honor and good sportsmanship.''

Wagner, a laborer at Accuride Corp. in Erie, has been competing for 20 years.

"I've been doing this for a long time for little or no recognition,'' Wagner said. "I have a whole bunch of trophies in my basement that nobody knows about, so this series is going to be real cool.''

What will it be like to see himself on national TV?

"I think all of us are humble by nature,'' Wagner said. "Half of me is almost embarrassed because I don't think I'm anybody who has done anything to earn this. But it's certainly fun, and I just hope that I represent arm wrestling the right way and Erie well.''

"It's going to make Erie look good, make the arm-wrestling world look better,'' said Erie resident Don Plonski, 56, president and director of the Erie Power Arm-Wrestling Team. "People are going to recognize Erie, and they're going to say, 'Oh, Erie, Pa. They were on TV. That's that arm wrestling city.''' Plonski said.

Plonski has been a fixture in Erie's arm-wrestling community as a competitor, tournament director and referee for more than 30 years.

"I've always loved arm wrestling and I said I have to keep it going,'' Plonski said. "I kept having tournaments and I got younger kids involved.''

Plonski and former Erie resident Danny Carr organized Erie's first arm-wrestling team -- the Armbenders -- at the Lower Eastside Sports Center in 1977, Plonski said.

Carr, a three-time world champion, founded the Erie Power Arm-Wrestling Team in 1980, and is perhaps best known as the creator of the American Gladiators competitions.

Carr lives in Orlando, Fla., where he helps train budding stars at a professional wrestling gym.

"I grew up looking up to these two guys,'' Wood said. "If it wasn't for them and how they ingrained arm-wrestling in Erie, we might not have our team today.''

RON LEONARDI can be reached at 870-1680 or by e-mail.

About the rulesThe U.S. Armwrestling Association lists 33 arm wrestling rules. Here are 10 of the major rules. - Your shoulders must be square to the table before the match will be started.- All starts will be a "Ready ... Go." The cadence will vary.- To make a winning pin, you must touch your opponent to the touch pad. You must be touched to lose.- You may not, at any time, touch your body to your hand.- You will forfeit the match with your second foul.- If the grip comes apart for whatever reason, both hands will be strapped together.- Your shoulder can't go past the center of the table.- If either competitor is in a position that may hurt his arm, the referee will stop the match and may award a foul.- The referee must see your thumb knuckles unless competitors agree to waive the rule.- If the competitors' elbow comes out of the pocket, and he gains position, a foul will be called and the referee has the option to restart the match.